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SENE_TZ

Moshi, Tanzania

1 review

“Wonderful family vacation hoouse”

Reviewed 5 January 2017
for a stay in December 2016

Our multi-generational family of 10 with ages ranging from 18 to 81 had a wonderful 2 week family holiday at Casa de las Cupulas and Isla Mujeres. The house is in a great location on the southern part of the island, far from the maddening hordes of tourists on the north end. We very much enjoyed the many gathering spots indoors and out, as well as the privacy afforded the different bedrooms, especially the guest house out back, where we stayed. Loved using the tennis court and the swimming pool. The staff - Amira, Lizeth, and Roberto - did a wonderful job of preparing great meals, cleaning, and attending to the grounds. Only Roberto has a few words of English, so it is best to have at least one Spanish-speaker in your group (you're in Mexico, after all!). Still, hand gestures, dramatics, and smiles work well too. David was always available for questions or concerns, and all of our requests were promptly attended to by he and his staff. Golf carts made it easy and fun to get around the island. We particularly enjoyed the restaurants in the neighborhoods between the Casa and downtown, as well as shopping at Chedraui.

Would you recommend this hotel to a friend?
Yes.

Was this review helpful? Yes

This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC

After 10 years of Spring Breaks vacations with another family, our trip this year was to Isla Mujeres. We have rented luxury homes all throughout the Yucatan and Belize and was impressed with the reviews that Casa las Cupulas had received on several websites.

We paid the owner for the full week and signed a lengthy rental agreement. Our group consisted of two families, with 6 children ranging in age from 12-18. Our objective has always been to find a home with a tennis court so that we can all play tennis amidst the snorkeling and exploring. Casa las Cupulas appeared to fit the bill perfectly.

I should have been on alert when we began to see signs of nastiness from the owner when my wife communicated with him about our desire to have a few dinners at the house and to have food stocked prior to our arrival on Saturday, the day before Easter. Several of her emails were met with snippy responses that the cook would only prepare a single breakfast item, and was not a "short order cook".

Our friends arrived at the house an hour earlier than we did and were met by the cook Amira and her helper, who did not greet the party or introduce themselves. When we arrived an hour later, there was a palpable sense of not being wanted there. Not sure if it was the Amira's lack of English and my limited Spanish, but there was no welcome in the air. That night, they cooked us a decent meal of chicken and then left with no goodbye or instructions of who to call if we needed anything during Easter Sunday. The biggest issue that we discovered was that the staff had left us with only half of a large (2 gallon?) jug of water for our 10 people. While we were told not to drink the tap water in the written materials provided by the owner, we did not received the drinking water also references as being provided. Luckily, we were able to venture out and find a Chedraui (large big box store) nearby and purchased all the water we needed.

The following day, the staff returned and again, there was a frosty attitude displayed by Amira. She was on her cell phone constantly and apparently talking with the owner. After a few minutes, she put me on the phone and the owner told me that the staff was not feeling appreciated and that we were being rude? Never in my decade of renting high end homes in Latin America have I ever had a problem with our staff and never have I been chastened by an owner for rudeness.

Then the piece de la resistance! The owner has furnished the home with a lot of art ranging from inexpensive shells and folk art, to terra cotta figurines and strange paintings. During the afternoon, my daughter was walking by a terra cotta statue that was placed in front of a window and within 4 feet of a door to the kids bedroom. She was distracted by a tap on the window to signal that the next tennis match was starting and bumped into the small wooden base that the figurine was sitting on. The terra cotta piece fell from the base and broke into several pieces. We emailed the owner promptly to inform him of this and to apologize for the damage.

He immediately called my wife in hysterics and accused us (my 17 year old daughter?) of being drunk and trashing his place. He said that the statue was antique and priceless and had been given to him by a 91 year old friend who had purchased it in 1983. He also intimated that the damage had been intentional.

After receiving this verbal attack, my wife was understandably shaken up and began to cry from his abuse. This was when I realized that the vacation was being ruined by the owners nasty behavior. I emailed him and told him that we were very sorry and understood that the sentimental value of the statue made him upset and that we would be happy to reimburse him for the loss. I asked him to provide a receipt or some documents that would establish its value.

He then called back and said that he spoke with the elderly woman who purchased it 33 years ago and that she did not have a receipt, which I understood, but she remembered clearly that the item cost $1750USD in 1983. I responded that I had no idea of how to value such an item and that a piece of this value would clearly be included on a manifest for home insurance purchases? He then responded that I was questioning his honor in asking for some verification of the value that I was being asked to replace. He went into a lengthy spiel about his career as a Hollywood film producer and a developer, as if that should explain that he was above reproach for being offended that I asked him for evidence of the value.

At this point, he began with threatening emails, demanding that I pay him the $1750 via PayPal, which is hard to do with intermittent wifi service at his house. I again apologized for the damage and asked for some proof of the cost. He then told me that he had just received the statue as a gift late last year and had not added it to the list of valuables on his home insurance. Not sure that this sounded correct, as if it was truly one of his most treasured items why was it placed on a small wooden base in a foot traffic area and why was it not insured? I also was not all that impressed that he expected me to rely on the memory of a 91 year old woman who had had purchased it 33 years ago. However, because it was greatly upsetting my wife and family, and further poisioning the atmosphere for our vacation and because I acknowledged that my daughter did bump the figurine, I paid him on Pay Pal. At this point, I had hoped that bad feelings would be over and we could try to salvage the remainder of our vacation.

Unfortunately, that was not to be. That night I tried to repair the relationship with Amira the cook and got her to prepare a regional specialty, a split snapper marinated in achiote spice, salt, lemon juice and oil. The butterflied fish is placed in a special metal rack and slowly cooked over a charcoal fire. I worked very hard to compliment her on the preparation and to learn the recipe, as I had had this meal before. It was grilled over a charcoal fire and then served family style. It was very tasty, but except for the thinner pieces around the edge, very raw inside. At this point, I thought that asking for it to be cooked longer would undo any efforts to repair the damaged relationship and we merely did eat the bulk of the fish. The following day, I contacted the owner and asked that he instruct the staff to cease with meal preparation and that we would take all our meals in restaurants. He did not ask why and I did not go into the matter of undercooked fish. At that point, we did not have any further communication with her. Even when we were leaving on Saturday morning, and dropped our gratuities off with her, she was unwilling to speak with us and would not stop chatting on her cell phone. I had no problem with the assistant or Amira's helper, and should have probably tipped them directly and recognized her unfriendly behavior with no tip.

Finally, the house is nice and well appointed with speakers and lots of indoor and outdoor furniture. We advised the owner when we found a dead mouse in the pool and he downplayed it, saying we are "surrounded by nature." Also found a lot of cockroaches in the house and the groundskeeper had to kill a large scorpion in our girl's room. Other than the undisclosed fact that the house is in the middle of a lot of residential construction and that it is located on the road just past the cemetery and municipal dump, we liked the people of Isla Mujeres other than Amira.

Will not be going back. Holbox is much friendlier and has beautiful beaches, which Isla Mujeres does not. Casa las Cupulas was probably a great house a decade ago, but is showing its age and the tennis court fence is rusty and dropping rusty metal on the court daily. Make sure to get a tetanus shot before trying to play there.

Travelling group:Large Group

Your age range35-49

Would you recommend this hotel to a friend?
No.

Was this review helpful? Yes

This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC

Management Response

12 Apr 2016

I have been renting my house for over 12 years I have place a Claim against a security deposit in all these years 3 times twice for lost keys (we HD to re key the whole house) and niw with this renter for damages We had never experience such disrepect for the house and the staff before as this group behaves the constant slamming of doors leaving all windows and doors open while running the ac units, eating food all over the house leaving remains of food everywhere, which attracts insects we live in the tropics! We pride on the pristine state of cleanliness that the house is kept constantly, The damage done by the teenage daughter was a stupid and negligent action on her part she used the sculpture base as a step to try to get on the ledge of the window to open the window, the guest said that much to me! the sculpture was in an out of the way area if the house with other sculptures around it, it was totally negligent and irresponsible to try to use a sculpture base as a step to climb onto a window....My staff and specially Amira has been praised for its service and great food, this group was rude to te staff from the start thy acted totally arrogant and disrespectful to the point that Amira asked me to talk to the guests after a a couple of days of interaction, the group requested 7 days of (3) meals a day I informed them we are not prepared to do that we cannot prepare more than (2) meals a day at the house either breakfast and lunch or breakfast and dinner but only (6) days a week our staff like all working people have to rest and take a day off a week, we pride ourselves on great service, fantastic food and personal attention from me, but we all run into people that will never be happy no matter where they go or how hard we try to please them Casa de Las Cupulas will always work to improve our guests expirience....

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC

We rented this house for 6 nights in Isla Mujeres and we all LOVED it. David coordinated with us upfront, gave great directions, helped with recommendations etc. The staff at the house --especially Amira (the cook) were fabulous. It was so awesome to be on vacation, but be able to eat delicious meals, freshly cooked, and served. The staff kept the house and grounds very clean! I would HIGHLY recommend renting this house for a family, or a large group. We had some teenagers with us and the space was wonderful and the tennis court/basketball hoop kept them entertained during rest times from beach/pool.

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Liked best:The pool/veranda area

Liked least:nothing

Travelling group:Extended Family

Would you recommend this hotel to a friend?
Yes.

Recommended for:

Friends getaway

Older travelers

Large groups

Was the property as advertised?

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Was this review helpful? Yes

This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC

We had our bachelorette party in Isla Mujeres and were so in love with the house! We had 10 girls stay and were more than comfortable with the space. Everything from the kitchen, bedrooms, pool (with a swim up bar!!) , lounge areas, roof top, guest house, golf carts and hammocks were fantastic! We even ordered the same bedroom sheets online because they were so wonderful! Amira and her daughter took such good care of us that we felt like part of the family! The food was out of this world, definitely eat as many meals as possible at the house! The golf carts were super fun and a great option for getting around town. The homeowner, David was so accommodating and made sure we had everything we needed and then some making our experience very personalized. My only regret was that we didn't stay longer. Thank you again David and the wonderful staff of Casa De Las Cupulas! They even taught me how to make the most amazing margaritas which will stay with me for life!! :)

How easy was it to book the property?

How helpful were the directions to the property?

How easy was key pickup/access to the property?

Overall condition of the property

Bedding & mattresses

Kitchen & utensils

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Service

Liked best:The kitchen and food were amazing! We never left the pool area it was so relaxing!!

Liked least:That we had to leave and return to our homes

Travelling group:Large Group

Would you recommend this hotel to a friend?
Yes.

Recommended for:

Friends getaway

Older travelers

Families with young children

Large groups

Was the property as advertised?

Would you recommend the location of this property?

Was it a good value for the price paid?

Did the property offer wi-fi/internet access?

Was your security deposit returned on time?

Was this review helpful? Yes

This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC

Great experience. So relaxing and accommodating that I found myself questioning my need to get outside and see the rest of the island (which is pretty cool ... if you can break away!). Very nice and culinarily capable staff. The tennis court in in great shape- we'd wake, play, jump in the pool, eat lunch, nap, read in the floating bed or hammock, maybe swim or play more tennis, catch our college basketball team's game on the tv (we're diehard), eat dinner, relax, watch the sunset, rinse and repeat. Flora and Fauna are really neat and abundant, if you're into that sort of thing. Make sure you see a sunrise while you're there- the eastern view from the house is perfect.If I HAD to make a complaint it would be that the internet isn't blazing fast, but I used it for skype and it kept a decent signal.

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Travelling group:Spouse/Partner

Would you recommend this hotel to a friend?
Yes.

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Was this review helpful? Yes

This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC

Casa de las Cupulas is a wonderful place to escape to in the cold of winter. We loved it last year and visited for a second time with friends and family.

There are many excellent places to commune and converse: in the large, open kitchen, at the long dining table, in the living room (an excellent place for games and movies), outside in a covered area (with a beautiful view of the water), and by the pool. And there are more nooks and crannies for smaller groups. It's these features that make it such an enjoyable place to visit with a group.

We had a lot of fun playing tennis, walking to the nearby Ixchel Temple (the Easternmost point in Mexico!), and enjoying the downtown nightlife. We even visited a fun and gimmicky ice bar. The island is small, which makes it easy to get around, and there's a lot to explore.

The food, grounds, and house are splendid. I can't recommend Casa de las Cupulas enough. Make sure to catch a sunrise or sunset!

How easy was it to book the property?

How helpful were the directions to the property?

How easy was key pickup/access to the property?

Overall condition of the property

Bedding & mattresses

Kitchen & utensils

Bathroom cleanliness

Other facilities & amenities

Service

Travelling group:Large Group

Your age range25-34

Would you recommend this hotel to a friend?
Yes.

Recommended for:

Friends getaway

Older travelers

Large groups

Was the property as advertised?

Would you recommend the location of this property?

Was it a good value for the price paid?

Did the property offer wi-fi/internet access?

Was this review helpful? Yes

This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC